Internal-combustion engine.



G. MODOWELL'.

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE. APPLIGATION PILED AUG. 1v, 1912.4

1,098,455. Pawnteduune 2, 1914,

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ArLIoA'rIoN HLBD AUG. 17, 1912.

Patented Jungs, 1914.v

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. INVENTR Br /w ATTORNEYS WTNESSES t,... 7H@ M Fg# anonce MenownnnINTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINE.

Specication of Letters Patent.

orNiew` YORK, N. Y.

` Application led August 17, 1912. Serial No. 715,567.

Y @chori/ t it may concern: Be, tknwn t-hatLI, GEORGE MoDowELL, a citienof the United States, and resident of `|th'efeityoil New York, boroughof Brooklyn,

@nonni-,y (jfKingS, 4and State of New York,-

have 'invented` certain new and useful Imprp'v nts v in `InternalCombustion En gines unich -the following 1s a specificanon. i

16" LThe[object 'f my invention is to improve impli'fyhe, valvemechanism and prodiie an ,feiiici'ent device positively operated atfalltimes, 4without the use of springs and l henc'eg'to increase `theetficienc of ""7'tlie`eng-in'e andirender the 'operation o thevalveskpracticallyjnoiseless. This I have accomplished-bysurrounding theupper end of thee l' r withftwo concentric valve rings eachf rovi withslots or openings corre- "i'spontiingfwitlifthe intake and exhaust portsofthecylinder andadapted by rotative oscillationofthe rings, to open andclose said stood thai-it may be used inother types of ngin'es forivhicliit is found adaptable.

4o il 4th icompanying drawings, Figure 1 repi esente :ingle cylinderengine in vertical sectie" Fig. .2` shows a section of the valve flltaleii on the line 2-201" Fig. l;

Fig. 3 shows thevalverings in elevation kand represent, ,dagrainmati-zriodically` in accordance with the- V4horinontal i secti on thereof ;,y

3 represents the cylinder in which the I{i'nlrnrri OFFICE.;

Patented June 2, '1914.

piston 4.- is adapted to reciprocate. The piston is connected to thecrank 5 by the connecting rod 6 in the usual manner. The .enginecylinder is made double or is provided with a water jacket 7 in order topermit circulation of cold water about the cylinder and valve rings. Thecylinder and water jacket are provided with enlarged annular extensions3 and 7 above the end of the piston, which extensionsare bored out toreceive two concentric valve rings 8 and 9. The cylinder head 10 isadapted to close the end of the extension and at its center yprojectsdownwardly atlO inside of the valve rings 8 and 9 to closethe end of thecylinder, thereby forming a compression chamber above the end of thepiston. The cylinder head 10 is hollowed out or chalnbered at 11 for thecirculation of water to keep the head and valve rings cool as desired.The head is also provided with an opening 12 for the spark plug whichmay be inserted in any suitable or preferred manner. wardly extendingcentral portion of,V the head la'is preferably also provided with The.downtwo radially extending openings or ports 13 and 14, one of which,13, is the inlet-port for the entrance oi'j the gases to the compres?vsion chamber and the other, 14, is the exhaust port for the escape oftheburned gases after the explosion. These ports are adapted to registerwith corresponding openings Y der and the downwardly extending portion10LL of the cylinder head and compression chamber and are looselymounted thereln for tween the upper' extension 3 of the cylin.

movement oigoscillation in a circumferential direction. Each valvemelnber or ring 8 and ylocated in .such a position Von the circum-`Vserve. toopen and close the ports .13 and 9 is provided with `two ormore openings 'ference ofthe respective rings that they may i ilfla'tthe proper time duriugthe four',strokes` i as hereinafter/more fullydescribed.- The.` l ,openings.15 and 16`in the valveA rings'areVarrauigcd t0 .be brought .into register with the..` in`let port 13 toopen said inlet portfor 1k. Shaft 'thc'admission of theeiplosivemixture, and n the o enings 17 and 18 are adapted to be i broug t intoregister to open the exhaust bring the openings 15 and 16 andtheopenings 17 and 18 into register therewith during the four strokes ofmovement of the piston in the manner to be hereinafter more y described.The valve rings may be reciprocated in any suitable manner to obtainythe desired results, but I have here vshown the respective valve ringsas provided with` geared segments 19 and 20, the segment 19 being castupon or secured tothe inner ring 8 while the segment 20 is simi-v larlysecured to the outer ring 9. The outer -ring 9 is provided with aslotted opening at 21 to enable the ringto be slipped into place overthe innerl ring, which slot is made T-shaped to provide for thereciprocation of "i so the segment 19 connected to the inner ring.Meshing with the respective segments 19 and 20 are two gear segments 22,23 which 'are pivotally mounted on the frame of the l' engine andadaptedlto be rocked orvibrated in-any suitable manner to reciprocatethe v valve rings 8 and 9. In the present instance,

these geared segments 22, 23- are mounted @upon rock shafts 24 and 25,one. of which, 24,

i's tubular andsurrounds the other, as will be seen in Fig. 1 of thedrawings. The two concentric shafts 24 and 25 are inclosed and supportedb a shell or casing 26which is Secured to t e engine frame or moreproping from the rock arm 27 and thereby oscillate the inner valve ring8, while the cam e'rly, to the cylinder water jacket, and to anextension of the crank yshaft housing. The lower ends of the shafts 24and 25 are preferably provided with outwardly extend-V 1ng rock arms 27and 28 secured to the respective shafts. Each of the rock arms 27, '28,is provide with a downwardly projecting pin or ro ler 27, 28, each ofwhich isadapted to operate in a circular cam groove on the cam wheel 29.The cam groove 30 is adapted to operate on the pin 27il pro]ect groove31' is adapted to operate on the pin 28a inthe rock 'arm 28 andoscillate the outer valve ring 9, as will be seenl from the drawings.The cam wheel 29 is secured to a shaft 32 which is supported suitablebearings 33 extending from the housing 1 as previously indicated.Preferably one end I of the shaft 32 is provided with a spur gear 34which is secured thereto and adapted to mesh with another spur gear 35secured to the crank rshaft 2, the `relation between the propel.'v

two gears 34 and' '35 being such that it requires two completerevolutions of the crank shaft 2 for one of the cam shaft 32.

It will be understood that an suitable connection between the crank shaand the cam shaft may be employed so long as the relation between therotation of the crank' shaft and the proper opening and closing of theinlet and exhaust ports during the four strokes is maintained.

By the form of device and the relation between the parts here shown, theoperation of the valve rings by the crank shaft through the circularcams at the beginning of each of the four strokes is indicated in Figs.5 to 8 inclusive, in which the relative positioii of the crank shaft,piston and valve rings is shown. In Fig.. 9 isshown a development of themotions of the valve -rings during the four stroke cycle. The openingsv15 and 16 in the two'valve rings 8 and 9 corresponding to the intakeport, being indicated by the lower line of small rectangles, while theopenings 17 and 18 in the valve rings 8 and 9 for the exhaust port areindicated by the upper line of small rectangles in this figure. Theposition of the inlet and exhaust ports 13 and 14 is indicated in Fig. 9lby the parallel lines extending horizontally across thevlines of smallrectangles reprethe valve.- openings inthe rings. Studying this vfigurein connection with Figs. 5 to 8, the various movements of the valverings during the four strokes can be readily traced. Fig. 5 shows thepiston at the top pf its strokes with the intake valve just beginningtoopen, this point being indi cated by' the rectangles at the left end Aof the lower line of development in FiO. 9. Following the development inFig. 9 rom left to right, it will be seen that the small rectangles,from step to step, are brought to overlap more and more in the field ofor between the lines representing the intake port 13, and hence theintake valve continues-to open wider as the piston moves down, and thenthe openings 15 and 16 move apart so as to close the intake port shortlyafter passing the line marked B, at which point the piston has reachedthebot-tom of its stroke, and compression of the gases drawn into thecylinder will begin. This point is indicated in Fig. 6 of the drawings.During compression it will be seen that the intake valve openings in therings move still farther out of line with the intake port 13 until thepistonhas returned to its uppermost position, completing the compressionstroke, after which the explosion takes place, this point beingindicated by the line C in Fig. 9, and represented by the position ofthe parts in Fig. 7. Continuing to trace the movement of the intakevalve ring' l openings through the explosion and exhaust strokesindicated in Fig. 9, it will be seen that the openings 15 and 16 aregradually brought back to the position in which the intake valve beginsto' open for a repetition of the four strokes, this position being`indicated on ,the line E which corresponds with the position of thevalve openings on Y line A at the left end of Fig. 9. Similarly tracingthe movements 'of the valve openings with relation to the exhaust port14, it will be seen from a study of the upper development in Fig. 9 thatthe exhaust port begins to open toward the end of the explosion strokeor just before the beginning of the up stroke of the piston on theexhaust stroke, the beginning of Which is indicated 'in Fig. 8 of thedrawings which represents the Vposition of the parts when the valveopenings are 1n a position also represented on the line D in Fig. 9.Further tracing the openingA of ythe exhaust port from the `line l) te Ein Fig. 9, it'will be seen that the exhaust port is quickly brought tofull opening and then gradually closed, complete closure of thelexhaust' port, however, not taking place until after the intake valvesbegin to open for the next stroke as Will be seen by the position of thesmall rectangles on the lineA at the left end of the upper line ofthedevelopment in Fig. 9. It

will thus be seen that during-the operation gin to open and will befully opened during the-up stroke of the piston when the burned gasesWill be forced out afte1 \vhich the four stroke cycle will be againrepeated.

Y It will be understood that various modilications in the specific formshown and described may be made Without departing from the spirit of myinvention.

I claim:

'1. In an engine the combination of a reciprocating piston, a cylinderprovided with inlet and exhaust ports both located von the same side ofthe cylinder, a pair of annular concentric valve members, concentricwith said cylinder, provided with openings corresponding with saidports, a crank shaft adapted to be turned by said piston, a secondaryshaft adapted to be` driven by said crank shaft, and operativeconnections between s'aid secondary shaft and said valve members foroscillating said members circumferentially, and independently toalternately open and close said ports as said crank shaft is turned saidconnections being located on the oppositeside of the cylinder 'from saidinlet and exhaust ports.

' 2. `In a reciprocating engine the combina tion of a cylinder providedWith inlet and exhaust orts both located on the same side of thecyllinder, a pair of annular concentric valve members concentric withsaid cylinder,

each provided with openings corresponding with said ports and meanslocated on the opposite sides of the cylinder from said ports forcircumferentially oscillating each valve member independently toalternately open and close said ports, the arrangement being such thatthe corresponding openings in the valve members are brought intoregister with each other and With the respective ports to open the sameand are moved out of register to close said ports.

In Witness whereofI I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of twosubscribing Witnesses.

GEORGE MGDOWELL.. Witnesses Fnrrz ZEIGLER, J r., M. H. Lomrwoon.

